


Struggle With Power

by NetFe1ix



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Boarding School, M/M, School Life, but maybe there will be, probably no romance because i suck at that, some wanna one members are mentioned, would have fighting in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-09-22 19:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17065721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NetFe1ix/pseuds/NetFe1ix
Summary: At the age of 16, a test is administered on the children, which would determine if one would go on to live a normal life, or have mandatory schooling out of the country on a small island.Basically, Stray Kids with figuring out how to use their powers and the obstacles that they would face. How would they fare in this new world?





	1. Question

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first time writing fanfiction in general, so I'm a bit scared honestly, but I hope you'll like it!! :) Feel free to leave comments~ 
> 
> Even though its the holidays right now, I have a lot of homework so I don't know whether I can regularly update. But I'll try my best.

“Wake up!! The test is at 10, you don’t have the time to sleep in!” Letting out a small whine, Jeongin rolled over to the other side of his bed, sending a sleepy pout in his mother’s direction. Sighing, his mother grabbed his arm and sat him upright on the bed. 

 

“No whining, we have to get you to school now! Now get up!” His mother let go of his arm. She then flashed him a warm smile and moved out of the room, trusting Jeongin to get ready without much fuss. 

 

Today is the day that Jeongin has been dreading for the past month. He did not know much about this test, only that it would identify if he has powers and the kind of power he has if he does have the ability to wield any. Even though being one of the Gifteds seems kind of cool, he would have to leave his family behind to go to the school, and he felt that he wasn’t quite ready to commit to such a thing. Also, there was the fear that he might be alone there. As he is quite shy, he sometimes found it hard to make new friends. 

 

Gathering his thoughts, Jeongin went about his morning routine of washing up and changing into his school uniform.  Entering the dining room, his mother fed him a light breakfast. Time passed faster than he expected. Before he knew it, he was in the car en route to his current school. The car ride was mostly silent, with his mother asking him about how he was doing and him giving a small shrug as he didn’t want to burden his mom with his worries about the future. 

 

After reaching the school foyer, Jeongin leaned over the car console to hug his mom tightly, giving her a shaky smile as he did so. “Bye mom, I’ll see you after the test.” He said. Getting out of the car, he waved to her as she flashed an encouraging smile. He closed the door and she drove off to wait for him.

 

Jeongin followed the crowd of students towards the auditorium, where they would be briefed before separating into their classes to be tested. Looking around the seats, he spotted Daehwi sitting at the right end of the row, who caught his eye by waving enthusiastically at him. He went over and sat down beside Daehwi. 

 

“Hey man, how are you? Haven’t seen you since the holidays started.” Daehwi asked.

 

“I could be better. I wonder how today would play out. Do you think you would be one of the Gifteds?”

 

“It would be so cool if I actually have powers! I think-”

 

“Please settle down, everyone. The principal would now be giving you all a speech shortly.” Daehwi was cut off by the vice principal now standing on the stage, Mr Lee. The auditorium quietened down as the principal, Mr Kim, stood in front of the entire cohort. 

 

“Good morning everyone. I’m sure all of you know the purpose of coming back to school on this holiday. Today will be the day in which your lives can be changed forever. As you all know by now, Gifteds would be sent to a boarding school to learn to harness their powers. Whether you wish to live a normal life, or to have cool powers, it is important for you all to be attentive when receiving your instructions during the test. Do not worry as the test is perfectly safe. Good luck to all of you. Teachers, please lead your class to the designated classroom.”

 

Jeongin got up from his seat with the other students, following his teacher, Ms Park, out of the auditorium to the classroom. Daehwi was in another class, so they were seperated with a quick goodbye. Looking around, he noticed that some of his classmates seemed excited, while others were nervous or indifferent. He was hoping he would be a normal human with no powers, so that he could stay with his family, even though powers did sound fun to have.

 

Arriving at the classroom, Ms Park instructed them to line up in a single file outside of the class, and only one person would be in the classroom at a time. Jeongin was the fifth last in the line, so he had some time to kill before his turn. Sitting against the wall of the class, he decided to close his eyes and rest, instead of stewing in his thoughts and feelings.

 

Jeongin must have accidentally fell asleep, as he was jolted awake by his classmate when it was his turn to go in. He got up and went to the closed door of the classroom. Opening the door, he did not know what to expect, as no one is allowed to talk about what the test really is about. In the classroom, there was a table in the middle with two chairs situated opposite each other across the table. Ms Park was sitting in one of the chairs. On the table, there was a clear ball. 

 

“Jeongin, please sit down.” She called out, and Jeongin moved over to take the remaining chair. 

 

“Now, listen carefully. All you have to do in this test is to put your hands on this ball and focus on it. Visualise the energy in your body and push it to this ball. You can close your eyes for concentration if you have to.” She explained, patting the ball on the table. 

 

Jeongin nodded. Pushing away his nerves and stray thoughts, he cupped his hands around the ball and closed his eyes.  _ Focus. You can do this. _ He didn’t know what exactly he was supposed to do, but he followed Ms Park’s instructions and tried to visualise pushing energy into the ball. 

 

It must have worked, because Ms Park let out a small gasp. Opening his eyes, the ball that was once clear was now glowing a light green colour. Shocked by the occurrence, he lost focus and the ball slowly dimmed and became transparent again. Ms Park wrote down something onto the paper she had in front of her, then looked at Jeongin as she spoke, “Congratulations! You’re one of the Gifted. According to the colour you produced just now, you have healing capabilities. You should refer to this letter for more details and instructions on what to do. That’s it for the test. You can call in the next person and you can go home.” She handed him a piece of paper and smiled at him. Jeongin nodded and made his way to the exit. 

 

After leaving the classroom and signalling the next person to go in, he started the long walk to the car park behind the school, where his mother said she would be waiting. As he walked, he started thinking about what his life would be like, now that he was one of the Gifteds. He did feel excited about the fact that he had powers he never knew he could have, and that he could meet new people. Even though the fear was still there, he decided to not linger on negative feelings and enjoy the time he has left with his family before he has to leave for who knows how long. What started as a small smile grew to a large grin as he skipped towards the car park. Spotting the car, he made his way over and got into the back seat. 

 

Seeing her son’s uplifted mood, Jeongin’s mom asked with a cheeky smile as she started up the car, “So are you happy because you are able to stay here with us, or because you have powers?”

 

“I can heal people apparently. Isn’t that cool? I also got this letter which has more instructions about this whole Gifted thing.” Jeongin replied animatedly with a huge grin, waving the letter he got around. 

 

“Wow, my son really is one of the Gifteds. What does the letter say?”

 

“I have to report back to school on the 1st of January at noon with my stuff and they’ll take me to the new school. There’s not much time left to spend with you and dad, seeing that it’s the middle of December right now.” Jeongin was slightly sad about this but there was not much he could do about it. 

 

“That’s okay, we can still spend lots of time together. Now, let’s go home and rest, shall we?” His mother pulled out of the parking lot and started the short journey home.


	2. Cruise?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!! MERRY CHRISTMAS

Looking up towards the school he had been attending for the past few years, Jeongin felt sad to leave behind the friendships and memories he had made in the school compounds. Having already said his goodbyes to his friends and family a few moments ago and promising to keep in touch, he was now sitting in the bus that would bring him to the port and waiting for the bus to start up. 

  


The journey by bus would take about an hour, so Jeongin tried to make himself more comfortable in the barely cushioned seat. The students in the bus were all either engrossed in conversations, using their phones or already nodding off. As the bus started moving, Jeongin looked out of the window and waved to his friends and family standing outside the school one last time. He watched as the school moved out of his field of vision as the bus turned a corner. Settling back into the seat, he relaxed and dozed off with the help of the rumble of the bus.

  


* * *

  


When the bus reached the port, there was already a large group of students waiting for the ship. They consisted of new and returning students. Stepping out of the bus with his luggage, Jeongin was met with loud chattering and excited screams from those who were reunited with friends. He felt slightly awkward as there no one in sight that he recognised, and moved to one side to make sure he didn't get into the way of other people.

  


His plan was not effective as someone accidentally collided into him from behind.

  


“Sorry, my bad! I wasn't paying attention,” the blond boy that ran into him said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

  


“Jisung, you idiot.” A tall lanky boy admonished as he walked over to stand in front of Jeongin. “Hello, I haven't seen you around before. I’m Hyunjin, and the dumbass that ran into you is Jisung! Nice to meet you.” Hyunjin flashed a bright smile as he reached his hand out for a handshake.

  


“Yeah, it’s my first year going to this school. I’m Jeongin.” Jeongin returned the handshake and watched as Hyunjin turned to Jisung and started teasing him while twisting the other’s ear. Their shenanigans continued until a distant blaring sound was heard.

  


“Oh the boat is here!” Jisung exclaimed, and ran off to try to get to the front of the crowd to board first. Jeongin was unsure whether he was welcome to follow Jisung, but his questions were answered when Hyunjin turned around and grabbed his hand to chase after Jisung while yelling at him to slow down. Luckily, the crowd was relatively small and it was easy to locate Jisung and they made their way over with little complications. Standing at the front of the crowd, near the edge of the platform, Jisung slung his hand around Jeongin’s shoulders while pointing at the ship. “Look! Doesn’t it look cool?”

  


Looking up at the ship, Jeongin thought that it looked like a cruise ship. She was huge, with multiple levels. More information from Hyunjin revealed that the top level had a swimming pool, and there were apparently many rooms with different purposes, for example a video game room, a karaoke room and a billiard room. Once the ship was docked, Jisung pulled the two of them towards one of the entrances of the ship. Inside, the ship looked like a shopping mall, with many shops lining both sides of the ship. Jeongin didn’t have much time to process all of this as he was already pulled in the direction of the lifts.

  


“We have to choose a room quick, if not the nice ones would be taken!” Jisung explained to Jeongin as he pulled them along into the lift. The lift doors suddenly stopped closing as someone else ran into the lift last minute. Jisung pouted as he got more impatient, but it quickly dissolved into a grin as he recognised the person.

  


“Hi Chan! Long time no see! We made a new friend while waiting for the boat. This is Jeongin.” Jisung gave Chan a big hug, and waved over to Jeongin’s direction. 

  


“Hello Jeongin, I’m Chan. I heard you guys and came over. Are you guys okay if I joined you guys? I couldn’t find the rest of them.” Jeongin gave him a shy smile and a nod when Chan looked to him for confirmation. 

  


Arriving at the level Hyunjin pressed, the boys filed out of the lift and Chan led the way to one of the rooms that they could stay in for the 6 hour trip. Opening the door, the room inside was huge and styled like a hotel room, minus any windows as they were underwater. There were 2 bunk beds in case they wanted to sleep. A TV was planted on the far wall, and there was a bathroom connected to the room as well. They each claimed a bed by putting their belongings on it, and after doing so, Jisung suggested they go to one of the karaoke rooms to spend their time. 

  


Making their way over to the karaoke rooms, their relatively peaceful walk was disrupted as Hyunjin broke away from the rest of the group to hug another boy. He brought the boy along with the group and they continued the walk after he was introduced to Jeongin as Seungmin. Seungmin was slightly taller than him, and had a mischievous look on his face when he looked in his direction. Jeongin tried to ignore it and thought nothing of it, until Seungmin suddenly attacked him from the side with a scary look on his face. Screeching, Jeongin playfully pushed him away and held him at arms length while the rest of the group laughed at their shenanigans.

  


* * *

  


The karaoke room was spacious, with a large sofa opposite the huge TV, and a table to place the food and drinks they brought in. Through the 3 hour long bonding session, Jeongin got to know the new friends better. He learnt that they were all in the same club at school which Chan founded, under the name Stray Kids. “The people in our club all love music in one way or another, be it in the form of singing, rapping, dancing or producing. You would probably meet them sooner or later. I see that you love singing trot. If you love music, you might want to keep our club in mind when it’s time to choose a club to join! I would love to have you with us.” Chan explained while hugging Jisung, who nodded vigorously at his words.

  


_ So that’s why they are such close friends. _ “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for the invitation, hyung.”

  


“Man, I'm beat. I'm gonna go back to the room to take a nap. Bye guys!” Hyunjin announced as he stood up and stretched, letting out a loud yawn right after. Seungmin ran out of the room after him after he moved to leave.

  


The three of them sat together in a circle in a short silence. For Jeongin, he felt awkward as he still did not know them well. To fill up the silence, he asked, “What are your powers?”

  


Jisung went first. “I can control electricity, though I'm not so good at it yet. Sometimes I accidentally shock people when I touch them directly because of the excess charges built up in my body, but I'm working on it! It's easier for me to control circuits anyways. ”

  


“For me, its slightly more complicated. I can copy other people’s abilities, but only if I make direct skin contact beforehand. Basically, if I hold Jisung’s hand for 3 seconds, I can also manipulate electricity, for the next few minutes. I basically have no ability otherwise, except for heightened senses. I can see some UV and infrared light, and hear things most people can't. How about you?” Both Chan and Jisung turned their attention to Jeongin.

  


“Uh, I can heal people, according to the test. I have no idea how to do it though.” Jeongin said.

  


“Don't worry, only a few of us knew about our abilities before coming here. The teachers here said that to activate your abilities, you would either have to go through intense emotional trauma, or practice a lot of concentration exercises, like meditation, to, I guess you could say, pull out your energy to use as your power! It's a long process though. Took me half a year to actually power a small light bulb. You'll get the hang of your power after a while, no worries.” Jisung said while shuffling over to pat Jeongin on the back.

  


“You must be tired, let's go back to the rooms and rest for a while, yeah? We can talk more later when we reach school, if you still want to.” Chan assured, getting up to lead the two of them back to their rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna try to write more, and actually get to the point soon hahah sorry for the filler chapters. Feel free to leave comments.


	3. Start Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm back with a new chapter :D

Arrival was a large, loud mess. Students were crowding around the few exits of the ship and causing a huge ruckus, with lots of pushing and shoving to get to their friends, or to get closer to the exit itself. Due to the loud noise surrounding them, some students shouted at each other even though they were within hands’ reach, causing the noise to reach deafening levels. Chan, due to his sensitive hearing, cupped his hands over his ears, which already were blocked by the earplugs he brings everywhere. He was muttering under his breath, complaining about how this happened every year. Hyunjin and Seungmin were standing beside him, sending him empathetic looks. Seungmin went over and Chan suddenly seemed better, taking his hands off his ears and thanking Seungmin, which made Jeongin wonder what he did. However, before he could question further, Jisung grabbed his arm and started moving into the crowd, dragging him along as he tried to maneuver his way through the throng of people to get to someone that he spotted. After pushing and having a few curses sent his way, he reached the person who he wanted to talk to.

 

“Hey Felix! You dyed your hair! Anyway, Jeongin, this is Felix. We are almost birthday mates!” Jisung introduced, reaching out a hand to touch Felix’s reddish hair. 

 

“What he means is that we were born one day apart. Nice to meet - ” Felix was cut off by the loud cheers of the crowd as the doors opened. The trio were caught up by the sudden rush of people making their way to the exit. Instinctively, Jeongin grabbed onto Felix so as to not get lost in the sea of students.

 

Out in the open, Jeongin was able to take in fresh air and get a bearing of his new surroundings. They were at a port, and just down a large path, he could see a large building by the shore which he assumed was the school. The island was mountainous, with most of the land being a dense forest. There was not much evidence of urbanization, with only the port and the school being man made, as far as Jeongin could tell. 

 

The students were all making their way down the dirt path towards the school. Though slightly intimidated by the amount of people and the size of the school, Jeongin couldn't help but be excited. He walked beside Felix, holding onto his hand, with a bounce to his step. Felix, endeared by his actions, smiled to himself while watching Jeongin prance around, lost in his own world.

 

At the main entrance, they managed to catch up with Jisung, who was waiting impatiently for them inside. The interior of the school entrance was as posh as that of the ship, maybe even more upscale. The floor was entirely made of marble, and is that a chandelier hanging from the ceiling? There were 2 corridors on the left and the right side respectively, and a large staircase opposite the main doors of the school. Following the crowd up the stairs, the school auditorium came into view. From there, Jeongin had to be separated from the rest as first years were redirected into another room resembling a lecture theatre but with better chairs. Settling himself in one of the cushioned seats in the middle row, he tuned out for most of the talk that the vice principal gave, instead using the time to survey his surroundings. There were about 500 students in his year, from his estimations. At the front beside the podium, there was the same crystal ball used in the test on the table. 

 

“Now, we will be sorting out the classes, and your skill levels. Students who have the ability to use their powers, to whatever extent it may be, please come forward now.” The vice principal commanded. For the next few seconds, no one moved, until a girl stood up and moved to the front. A handful of students followed suit. A total of 8 students went up to the stage, waiting for their next instructions, some with anxious looks on their faces. They were then told to show their powers to the fullest extent, for the teachers sitting at the front row to gauge their current levels. 

 

The first girl stepped out of the line and introduced herself as Somi. “Are you sure that you really want me to show everything? Because that might become disastrous and harm the others…” After assurance that there is a barrier around her to keep everyone safe, she stood solidly on the stage. Calling upon her power, her eyes turned red, and a small flame sparked in the palm of her hand. The ground around her feet started smoking, and suddenly, she was surrounded by a pillar of fire that shot up from the ground. The people in the theatre were mesmerized by her display, staring as the fire died out and revealing Somi to be completely unharmed, though she looked drained from the excessive use of her powers. She went back to her seat and the next person went for their turn.

 

Jeongin watched as the next 7 people used their powers in awe. From what he saw, one of them could control gravity, which resulted in the table and the ball floating around aimlessly before shooting up to stick to the ceiling, then back to the ground. Luckily, he did not damage anything even though the distance the objects fell was big.

 

After those that could use their abilities, the rest of the student population went up one by one to the ball, doing what they have done before during the test. Throughout the long process of waiting, he noticed that the light emitting from the ball glowed brighter for some, and dimmer for others.  _ That must be how the teachers categorize the rest of us in terms of skill.  _ He soon went up for his turn, and afterwards, waited till everyone was done. The students were then told that they would receive their timetables and class allocations by the end of the week through their phones. 

 

Older students then brought them to the dorm area, where they received their room numbers. The students lived in groups of 4, and most of the time they were all from different years. “When you reach your room, please flip the paper over to your name and slot it in the name holder on the door.” One of the leaders said.

 

Jeongin walked along the 3rd floor, feeling nervous about his next encounter. What if his roommates didn’t like him? What if they were messy and didn’t clean up after themselves? What if they were clean freaks and needed everything to be spotless? His train of thoughts was halted as he arrived at his room door. Looking at the names already on the door, he was ecstatic to see Seungmin’s name, even though they weren’t that close. After slotting his name into the holder, he entered the room using the key given to him. 

 

_ Wow, the government really spent a lot of money on this school, huh,  _ Jeongin thought as he took in his surroundings after taking off his shoes. The dorm room looked like an apartment, with a small living room and dining room. There was a boy lying on the sofa, sleeping with his headphones on. Not wanting to wake him up, Jeongin walked quietly into the hallway separating the kitchen and the living room, where there was a door at the end,which opened into the toilet, and 2 doors facing each other, midway in the hallway. Opening the right door, he entered the bedroom, where there were 2 bunk beds, 3 of which were already taken, if the soft toys and different bed sheets were any indicator. He went to set down his luggage at the foot of the bunk bed with the unoccupied bed at the top bunk, and started to unpack. 

 

The closet at the foot of the beds was huge. Jeongin opened it to put his clothes in, noticing how the the closet was split into 4 compartments, and hung his clothes in the only empty side. Distracted by unpacking, he didn’t realise that someone was standing at the door until the person cleared his throat. “You’re the new roommate, right? I’m Changbin.”

 

Looking up, Jeongin got up to introduce himself to the boy clad in black, “Yes, I’m Jeongin, sorry for the mess I made, I’ll clean it up.”

 

Waving his concern away, Changbin made his way over to his bed to take his bag. “It’s all good, was just going to take this. I won’t bother you.” He said while leaving the room, closing the door behind him. 

 

* * *

 

After unpacking his clothes and other items, Jeongin decided to go peek into the other room on the left side of the hallway to see what was inside. Swinging the door open, he saw a long table pushed up against the side of the room, with a mess of books stacked up in one corner, and a large computer with a keyboard in front of one the four chairs. Papers, books and some crystal balls were strewn about on most of the table, with only the space on the right side being neat, books and papers stacked nicely. Other than the long table and chairs, there was a bookshelf at the side, and the rest was just a large empty space. 

 

Having his curiosity sated, he made his way to the kitchen to get a drink, due to unpacking making him tired and thirsty. Apple juice in hand, Jeongin then made his way to the sofa, where the boy who was previously sleeping was sitting at. Headphones now around his neck, the boy looked up and gave him a small smile upon hearing Jeongin approach. “Hello, my name is Woojin. I’m the oldest in this dorm room. Come sit down and talk, yeah?”

 

Jeongin and Woojin started to have an easygoing conversation to get to know each other better. Jeongin, previously feeling tense, started relaxing due to Woojin’s warm personality. Woojin even offered to cuddle with him, which he gladly accepted. 

 

Their relaxing moment was interrupted when Seungmin whipped the dorm door open and shouted excitedly, “Jeongin! You’re my roommate!” Jeongin jumped in shock from the loud sound of the door slamming into the wall, and Woojin unwrapped his arms around Jeongin’s waist.

 

“Seungmin! Don’t open the door so violently!” Woojin lectured as Seungmin made his way over to the sofa to hug Jeongin. Seungmin replied with a playful “sorry~” while bothering Jeongin by poking him all over, trying to find his ticklish spots. Jeongin pushed him away while laughing, holding his hand out to stop Seungmin’s advances. Eventually Seungmin stopped, and turned to face both Woojin and Jeongin, saying, “Right, I’m here to tell you guys the the group is already down at the food hall. If you guys don’t go down soon, they are going to eat all of our food. Let’s go!” 

 

* * *

 

The food hall was a humongous room. The left side was lined with a big buffet, and the rest of the space was filled with tables, both the rectangular long kind of tables, and big round ones. Seungmin led Woojin and Jeongin to the table where the others were already sitting. “Sorry Jeongin, we didn’t know what you liked to eat so we just got you a little bit of everything.” Chan said as he pat the chair next to him, signalling him to sit down.

 

“Jeongin, there’s one more person in the friend group that you haven’t met yet! This is Minho.” Jisung said from across the table, while patting Minho’s head who was sitting next to him. Minho batted Jisung’s hand away and nodded in acknowledgement in Jeongin’s direction. 

 

“Now that we are all here, let’s start our reunion dinner!” Chan said, and everyone started scarfing down their food while teasing and talking to one another comfortably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you liked it~~ Please don't be scared to leave comments


	4. School Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year guys!! School is starting soon for me, so I might not be posting much after this week :C 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you like this chapter~

According to Chan, lessons in the school were mostly the same as normal school curriculum, just less rigorous in the academic aspect, and more time devoted to cultivating their power. On the first day of actual school lessons, Jeongin and his new classmates was led to his first class by Minho, who was coincidentally the student volunteer allocated to bring his class around the school. His first day went by pretty fast, with most lessons dedicated to introductions by the students, and the overviews and expectations for the year. 

 

The classes for power control was different and interesting, though. The class size was way smaller than the academic-driven classes, with only 5-10 students to 1 teacher for each class as opposed to the usual 20-30 students to 1 teacher ratio. Jeongin’s class consisted of 5 students, including him, all with similar powers. This class was mainly to get their powers to manifest. According to his Power teacher, Ms Yoon, they were considered the most advanced Gifteds with healing as their power, in their year, with exception of those whose powers have already manifested. Those students skipped grades to be in classes on par with others of their caliber. “I’m positive that in a few months, all of you would be moved to the next class once you manage to bring out your powers. Now, today’s lesson would be the most important, even though you might consider this exercise boring. I’m sure you have heard about meditating. In order to call forth your abilities without the emotional trigger, we would have use the hard way of meditation.”

 

After that 1 hour of Power control class, Jeongin’s school day was over. He rushed back to his dorm, excited to rest and talk to the others. Entering the dorm room, he initially thought that no one was back yet, which made sense as Changbin, Woojin and Seungmin were in a higher grade then him. However, as he rounded the corner to the kitchen, Seungmin jump scared him from behind the partition wall, Jeongin letting out a high pitched scream as he almost fell back. Seungmin cackled as he grabbed onto his hand, tugging him along towards the study room, while saying, “Do you want to see Changbin practice his powers? It’s really cool!” Not that Jeongin had much choice as he was dragged into the room. 

 

To Jeongin’s confusion, the study room was empty, everything in the same place as this morning with the exception of the computer monitor being on. Seungmin noticed his confusion and said, “There’s a training room under the floor. One of the teachers-in-charge of the boarding school can control spaces and dimensions, so he made a training room for each dorm room. There’s a trapdoor that leads to it. Changbin is there, let’s go before he finishes up.” Seungmin kneeled down and hooked his fingers under a floorboard that was discoloured, but was only noticeable if one concentrated hard enough and knew what to look for. This floorboard acted as the handle. As Seungmin lifted up the floorboard, the entire section of the floor lifted up, revealing a ladder leading down to a large training room. The room was spacious, with a small lake at the side, a tiny forest at one corner, many rocks, both large boulders and small pebbles, littered about and dummies piled up beside the ladder. There were targets pinned on one wall. Changbin was standing in the middle of a large clearing, back facing them, shooting orange balls of energy at a few dummies propped up against the far wall opposite the wall with the ladder. 

 

Jeongin stared in awe as he allowed Seungmin to lead him to sit on one of the boulders, still staring at Changbin while walking. Changbin continued forming balls of energy, launching them at the dummies, seemingly oblivious to his new audience sitting nearby. Seungmin and Jeongin sat in silence for a few more minutes, watching Changbin practise, until he slowed to a stop and turned around, sweat forming above his brow. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed the two. Jeongin noticed that his eyes were glowing the same orange as his energy blasts, though they were quickly dimming back to the usual dark brown. “What are you guys doing here?”

 

“I just wanted to show Jeongin around the training room.” Seungmin replied, ruffling Jeongin’s hair.

 

“Hyung, what exactly is your power, if you don’t mind me asking? You’ve never told me about it.” Jeongin asked, looking between Changbin and the dummies that were damaged beyond repair. 

 

“I control energy, as you’ve probably already seen. I can also create force fields and barriers, though, like this.” Changbin raised his palm, eyes flashing orange, and a orange barrier formed between him and the two. Jeongin tested it out by knocking on it, feeling the hard cold surface of it with fascination. After looking at it for a while longer, Changbin dismissed it, making the barrier crack and dissipate into nothing. Turning to Seungmin, Jeongin voiced out the same question, curious about the other’s abilities.

 

“How do I say, I can control people’s senses? For now, I can only control for a few minutes at most for actually making someone sense something not there, but it can be longer if its basic control like blocking out one of the senses or amplifying it. Do you mind if I show you?” Seungmin looked at Jeongin, who caught his eye and nodded. 

 

“Okay, here goes,” Seungmin’s eyes glowed deep pink, and Jeongin gasped as his line of sight started desaturating in colour, soon becoming black and white. His vision stayed monochrome for a few seconds before colour bled back. 

 

“That was… interesting, so you can control every sense?” Seungmin nodded, smiling softly.

 

* * *

 

Seungmin had offered to help Jeongin speed up the process of attaining his abilities by teaching him tricks that he personally felt helped him in his first year. Changbin had left the training room to take a nap before dinner time. Jeongin was grateful for the help, even though he could not tell whether he really was closer to gaining control over his power. The crystal ball did glow brighter when he used it after, so that must have accounted for something. After the long training session, Jeongin tried to thank Seungmin, who brushed him off, saying that the training had helped his basics. The duo went back to the study room. Upstairs, Changbin was dozing in front of the computer, mixing software drawn up at the front of the screen. Jeongin watched with interest as Seungmin leaned over him to save his work and shut down the computer. They then went out to the living room, intending to chat.

 

Woojin was sitting on the couch, singing along to the song playing from his headphones while reading the news, with a slight frown on his face. On the island, it was difficult to find newspapers, so it was Jeongin’s first time seeing it ever since he got in. In that sense, the entire student cohort was isolated from the rest of the world. The newspaper Woojin was reading was not published by any familiar company, though, so Jeongin assumed that it was publications meant for those living on the island. 

 

“Hyung, why are you frowning? Did something bad happen?” Seungmin asked, seeing Woojin’s facial expression. 

 

“Look here. There’s rumours about some evil secret organisation hidden on this island, though it’s still not known for sure. I do hope this isn’t true, I don’t want anything bad happening to us.” Taking a hold of the newspaper, Seungmin skimmed through the article, with Jeongin looking over his shoulder. After reading it, Jeongin felt shaken, and understandably so. He still could not access his powers, after all.

 

“Should we train more just in case anything happens? Let’s tell the others about this.” Seungmin shoved the newspaper into Jeongin’s hands, tugging the other two along to wake a confused Changbin up before making their way to the dining hall. Woojin took out his phone, messaging their friend group to meet there. 

 

When everyone was gathered at their usual round table, Woojin explained what he saw from the newspaper, while also reiterating that it was still rumours, and that its very possibly fake news. After everyone was on the same page, Chan spoke up, saying, “Why not all 9 of us train together regularly? We could use the training room connecting to Woojin’s room, since all 4 of you are among us and we won’t be disturbing our roommates.”

 

“I agree, but I don’t understand why we are getting so worked up over rumours?” Minho questioned.

 

“Honestly, I understand what you mean, but on the off chance that this article really is true, I want us to be prepared for the worst case scenario.” The rest of the group agreed with his sentiment, and after having a hearty buffet dinner, they already settled on their plan, where they would meet up during the weekends to help each other hone their powers. 

 

* * *

 

After that meeting, Chan and Woojin made their way to Chan’s room, Felix trailing after them since it was his room as well, though he went to the bedroom, not wanting to interfere.The duo went to the study room, where they sat down together to discuss their plans involving the rest of the kids. Woojin took out his notebook, documenting down what Chan was saying for future references.

 

“I think we should focus more on Jeongin, but we have to be careful not to overwork him, since he’s still new to all of this. We should also probably teach them all to use weapons? I know that there’s a weapons store in the school somewhere.” Chan rattled on, talking about what he knew were the strengths and weaknesses of the other members from the small sparring sessions against each other they took part in for fun. 

 

“Minho still struggles with using water vapour to conjure water, he’ll have to work on that if there’s no easily accessible water source.”

 

“Felix is good at redirecting projectiles, but the larger ones he has problems with.”

 

“We have to help Hyunjin with controlling his strength, sometimes the winds interfere with his teammate’s attacks.”

 

After writing down everything Chan listed out verbally and more discussion among themselves, Woojin bid goodbye to Chan and Felix before heading back to his own dorm room, where Seungmin and Changbin were noisily playing Mario kart on the TV with Jeongin watching on the couch, snuggling into Changbin’s side. Woojin reminded them to sleep early, to which they shouted affirmations while still focusing on the game, before retreating to the bedroom to get ready for the next school day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome :D


	5. Beautiful Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the long break, school already started and I was unmotivated to continue writing. Sch sucks, don't do school.

The next few weeks passed quickly, with no crazy incidences, or any further rumors about the “secret organisation” on the school newspaper. The group of nine got to spend time together more often, and they were able to bond well with their newest addition to the family, Jeongin. They trained together often, improving on their skills and learning about each other's strengths and weaknesses. It was on a relatively uneventful Saturday when Jeongin managed to use his abilities for the first time.

  
  
  


For this particular training session, Woojin had managed to secure some kendo swords from wherever the school kept combat equipment, and so they all took turns to learn the basics of the martial art. During this time, the others were sparring using their powers, though some sat out as their abilities were not very physical, like Seungmin’s. Instead, Seungmin and Jeongin continued to work on getting Jeongin’s abilities to surface. Every now and then, when Jeongin had mustered up enough energy, Seungmin would get Jeongin to try to heal a cut on his finger that he got after trying and failing to chop vegetables earlier that day, when they were all gathered in the kitchen to cook their lunch. In the distance, Felix and Minho were training together. Felix’s power was telekinesis while Minho’s was water, and ice to an extent. Their training consisted of Felix flinging nearby rocks at Minho while the other worked on keeping his ice shield up, blocking the rocks of various sizes. Jisung and Hyunjin were with Woojin, learning how to fight with weapons. 

 

The training session continued, until Seungmin and Jeongin disrupted it by suddenly shrieking loudly, causing the others to look over in alarm. “I did it!” Jeongin shouted, waving Seungmin’s hand around in the air. Chan, with his hearing, raised his hands to block out the high pitched dolphin noises from Jeongin while Jisung and the others rushed over to see the relatively deep cut that was once on Seungmin’s finger now closed, with no evidence of any cut being there in the first place.

 

Jeongin was ecstatic. After being with the other 8 for so long with no powers, while they could use their own, he sometimes felt inferior and like a burden. They had to spend so much time helping him bring out his powers, meaning that they had less time for themselves to improve on what they can do. But now that he managed to call upon his powers, he was over the moon, showing his excitement by jumping around the training room while holding Seungmin’s arm high up above their heads, with Seungmin himself grumbling about being dragged around. Hyunjin had also managed to get a good grip on Jeongin, and was hugging him tightly while the other continued to run around energetically. 

 

When the initial adrenaline died down, Chan suggested, “I think now is a fitting time to end our training today. Why not we go down to the shore to celebrate Jeongin’s accomplishment? We could have a picnic while watching the sunset!” Shouts of agreement echoed in the room as a few of the members ran over to the ladder, already climbing back into the dorm. The rest of the group took their time to go back, after arranging all of the practice weapons in one corner of the training grounds.

 

After packing all sorts of food in boxes from the dinner buffet at the cafeteria, and taking the picnic mat Hyunjin owned, the group made their way out of the grandiose school compound and walked along a narrow path in the grass, worn down by years of students trampling over the ground. The members bickered amongst each other while strolling towards the shore, with Woojin leading the way since he knew where it was.

 

Spending a few more minutes of walking, they finally got to the small beach, and settled down in a spot near the middle, spreading out the mat and opening up the food containers. Just as Chan said, the sun was about to set, sending streaks of oranges, pinks and purples across the sky. It was a relatively cloudless day, so the setting sun was not obscured as it slowly disappeared into the horizon. The members oohed and ahhed at the magnificent view, food lying forgotten in the containers as they stared and pointed at the different hues streaked across the sky. 

 

Of course, the sunset lasted only a short period. After the sun was gone, the group turned their focus onto the food, and soon, easy conversation was started among the 9 of them. At one point, the younger ones started to fight over the last piece of chicken, but while they were busy arguing, Woojin sneakily took it and bit into it with a triumphant grin. When they realised the chicken was gone, they started whining and protesting, pouting at Woojin, who had already finished it. 

 

As the sky got darker, Jisung had the brilliant idea of building a campfire for light, since there was not much lights on the island, except for at the school. Hearing his idea, the others were ecstatic, as they didn’t want to go back to the dorms so soon. He then went around the outskirts of the nearby woods to choose firewood with Changbin and Hyunjin, which they stacked up away from the mat, lest they caused their belongings to burn when Jisung started the fire. After being satisfied by the amount of wood collected, he used his electricity to cause a spark, lighting up the fire. The others cheered and sat down on the sand in a circle around the fire. They had a great time singing the campfire songs which they learnt during their childhood, and playing games among the group, making a lot of noise on the empty beach. 

 

After playing a long game of tag which had caused Jisung and Chan to trip in the sand when running, all of the members started to tire out, they all took turns to take a long drink from several large water bottles that Woojin had the sense to bring along. At this point of time, it was late into the night. When Chan suggested to go back to the dormitories, the rest responded with long groans. “Can we look at the stars first before we go back, please?” Seungmin pleaded, grabbing onto Chan’s hand to try to tug him down to lay down beside him. Chan had relented, making himself comfortable on the mat as the rest tried to squeeze in as well. Jeongin managed to sandwich himself in between Minho and Felix, with Minho’s arm supporting the back of his head. Looking up at the sky, Jeongin was mesmerized. Coming from a busy city, the streets were always lit at night, making it rare for stars to be seen in the night sky due to the light pollution. But here, on this island, he could see so many stars, constellations he had never seen throughout his entire life. Though he was starting to feel tired from the long day, he was glad that Seungmin got them to stay and look at the stars. He could feel the stress of school physically leaving his body, making him more relaxed than he could ever remember being. Every now and then, someone would point out certain stars, or try to trace a shape that only they themselves could visualise. 

 

Of course, the moment had to end sooner or later. They had a mandatory 11pm curfew to stick to which they were already running late for. The boys worked together to pack the mat and bag all of the food containers to throw away back on the school compound. They then started to brisk walk back to the school on the worn path, bickering among themselves and laughing at lame jokes along the way. Jisung had an arm slung across Minho’s shoulder, making big hand gestures with the other as he told everyone his story about how he had almost gotten killed by his neighbour’s dog when he was young. “It was a pomeranian dog, but I swear! To the young 4 year old me, it was huge! And it definitely was trying to kill me!” The members just laughed, some laughing loudly, like Hyunjin, while others stifled their giggles. Jisung directed an exaggerated sad pouty face at Hyunjin, which only caused him to giggle louder at his demise. 

 

While walking back to the school, the group didn’t realise the figure sitting among the trees of the nearby forest, muttering to themselves as they slinked back into the shadows, after observing them. 


End file.
